Back at the factory, Tom dropped to his knees beside Caleb’s body.
And above him?
A security drone hovered—blinking red.
Recording everything.
Vance would see it.
See his rage.
See the ghost finally bleed again.
And he would smile.
Chapter 14 – Burn It Down
Part 1 – When Hope Bleeds
The rain hadn’t stopped.
It bled down the city’s skin in silvery streaks, washing over neon signs, forgotten alleyways, and the darkened windows of high-rises that had seen too much and said too little.
Tom moved like a ghost through the ruin of the old factory.
Behind him, Caleb’s body lay cooling, a fading chapter with too many torn-out pages.
He didn’t look back.
Interior – Safehouse – 3:42 AM
The lights flickered when Tom walked in.
Manners was the first to spot him—eyes wide, hands stained with solder and steel.
Ø MANNERS: “Tom?”
No answer.
Just footsteps. Heavy. Broken.
And then Layla’s voice, hoarse from pain, called from the infirmary.
Ø LAYLA (weakly): “Tom…”
He froze.
Turned.
And the moment he saw her—leg braced, skin pale, shivering beneath a thermal blanket—something inside him snapped.
Ø TOM (rushing to her): “What did they do to you?”
Ø LAYLA (trying to smile): “Just a little ice. Nothing I can’t—”
Ø TOM (cutting her off): “Who?”
Ø MANNERS (from behind): “It was Vance. And one of his freaks—Shiver. That cryo psychopath. She ambushed Layla on the rooftop.”
Ø TOM (jaw clenched): “Where’s Vance now?”
Manners hesitated.
Ø MANNERS: “Broadcasting. Top floor of his skyscraper. Cameras, drones, full PR team. He’s prepping some kind of global message. Probably painting us as the threat.”
Ø LAYLA (straining): “Tom… don’t… not alone.”
Ø TOM: “I won’t be alone.”
He stood up, his silhouette dark against the sterile infirmary lights.
Ø TOM: “I’ll have every scar. Every scream. Every piece of what they made me into.”
Ø MANNERS: “You’re not thinking straight—”
Ø TOM (quiet): “I’m thinking clearly for the first time in months.”
He turned, grabbing his reinforced mask, the katana already sheathed at his hip. He moved to the suit locker and activated the new magnetic hooks.
The armor hummed to life around him—clasping into place.
Manners exhaled.
Ø MANNERS: “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
Ø TOM: “I’ll die before I let him win.”
Layla reached out.
Her fingers brushed his glove.
Ø LAYLA: “Don’t become what they think you are…”
Tom leaned down.
And whispered:
Ø TOM: “I won’t. I’ll become worse.”
Exterior – Vance Enterprises – 4:15 AM
Spotlights.
Media vans.
Drones in the air like mechanical vultures.
The top of the skyscraper gleamed like a crown—and Vance stood before a podium, surrounded by elites in suits and glassy-eyed investors.
A massive screen behind him flickered.
Ø VANCE (on mic): “We live in uncertain times. A masked figure—calling himself ‘The Remnant’—has taken the law into his own hands. He calls it justice.”
Images played: Tom fighting in the streets. Protecting people. Killing Caleb.
Spliced. Edited. Twisted.
Ø VANCE: “But we know the truth. We know the sickness that lies behind that mask. He is not a hero. He is a relic. And it’s time we move forward.”
Cameras flashed.
Crowds cheered.
Until…
The screen behind him shattered.
A figure dropped from the upper scaffolding—shoulder slamming into two guards—smoke pellets exploding into a blinding gray flood.
Screams.
Gunfire.
The Remnant rose from the mist.
Ø TOM (voice distorted): “You think you know what I am?”
The remaining guards charged.
Tom spun—his katana sweeping low and cutting through metal and armor. One fell. Another tried to flank.
Tom’s magnetic grapples launched, pulling a drone from the sky—he hurled it into the second attacker’s chest.
Ø TOM: “You built your empire on cages.”
He approached the podium.
Ø TOM (to the crowd): “And you want to talk about monsters?”
Vance backed away, but only slightly.
Ø VANCE: “Look at him. Look at what he is!”
Ø TOM (removing his mask halfway): “I’m what you made me.”
The crowd gasped.
Not because of the scars.
But because of the eyes.
Calm.
Human.
Hurting.
Ø TOM: “You created the Remnant. But I choose what he becomes.”
He dropped a flash drive at the foot of the stage.
Ø TOM: “That holds the truth. Every trafficking route. Every surveillance contract. Every kill you ordered.”
Ø VANCE (furious): “You think anyone will believe—”
Ø TOM: “I don’t need them to believe.”
Tom turned as more sirens wailed in the distance.
Ø TOM: “I just need them to see.”
He fired a grapple into the fogged sky—and vanished into the night.
Back at HQ
Layla watched the broadcast with Manners.
Silent.
Shaking.
But when the Remnant vanished into the dark?
She smiled.
Ø LAYLA: “He’s still in there…”
Ø MANNERS: “Let’s hope that’s enough.”
Chapter 14 – Reckoning
Part 2 – The Fall of a King
The city’s skyline blurred past as Tom vanished into the dark.
His cape fluttered in the stormwind, grapple hook clicking as it reeled him toward the outskirts of Vance Enterprises. Sirens trailed him like dying screams. His pulse still thundered in his ears from the confrontation atop the tower.
He’d made his statement.
He should’ve been retreating, hiding, regrouping—
But then…
The billboard flickered above a tower intersection, glowing like a twisted monument.
Vance’s smug face returned to the screen—this time not with accusations or doctored footage—but something far worse.
Ø VANCE (broadcasting live): “And here’s a treat for our viewers. The infamous Tammy Fleur—formerly of the shadows—caught and delivered by our private security forces. I must say, for a ghost, she’s got quite the form.”
The camera panned.
Tammy. Shackled. Kneeling. Silent but defiant.
And then Vance said it.
Ø VANCE: “I mean… with an ass like that, how could I not show her off?”
Tom stopped cold.
The rain beat against him like war drums.
He didn’t blink.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t think.
Interior – Vance Enterprises
Security panicked as the Remnant returned.
He didn’t sneak in this time.
He announced himself.
Two guards were unconscious before they hit the floor. Tom’s boots slammed the marble with rage. Glass cracked beneath his steps.
The elevator doors burst open on the top floor, torn from their hinges by sheer force.
Vance turned just as the camera shifted.
Ø TOM (voice deep, masked): “Stay away from her.”
Vance smirked, surrounded by cameras, a drone hovering nearby still streaming.
Ø VANCE: “I’m sorry, it’s just—her ass is incredible.”
Shink—
Tom’s katana glowed under the artificial light.
A second later—THWACK!
Vance’s arm hit the ground, cleanly severed.
The billionaire screamed, collapsing to his knees, clutching the stump as blood poured from his suit.
Ø VANCE (screaming): “SOMEONE HELP! GET ME HELP—!”
Ø TOM (calmly): “No help.”
Tom stepped forward.
Ø TOM: “No running.”
He grabbed Vance by the throat and lifted him with one hand.
Ø TOM: “Just vengeance.”
Vance’s eyes bulged.
Ø TOM: “And reckoning.”
Vance headbutted desperately—but Tom didn’t flinch. Instead, with a smooth motion, he spun, reared his leg back—and delivered a brutal side kick to Vance’s gut.
The force shattered ribs.
Vance soared backward, crashing through the bulletproof glass window—shards spinning like a storm of knives.
The camera drones followed.
Then—SMACK.
Vance hit the pavement like a bag of meat and bones.
Dead.
On impact.
Crowds screamed.
Phones recorded.
News helicopters zoomed in.
Rooftop Chaos
Police burst in.
Ø “HANDS IN THE AIR!”
Gunfire erupted.
Tom deflected two bullets with the katana—one grazed his shoulder. He activated a smoke bomb, flooding the chamber in grey clouds, then shot his grappling hook straight up through the hole in the ceiling.
Bullets chased him.
But he didn’t stop.
HQ – Just Before Dawn
The base was silent.
Tom walked in, blood trailing behind him, eyes hollow, armor cracked.
Manners and Layla turned to him, stunned.
Ø MANNERS: “Tom… What the hell happened?”
Tom said nothing.
Just pulled off the mask.
His voice was tired.
Empty.
Ø TOM: “Vance won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
Layla’s eyes widened.
Ø LAYLA: “You—”
Ø TOM: “Everyone saw it. The world knows now.”
A silence lingered.
Not one of judgment.
But of awe. Of fear. Of understanding.
Ø TOM: “No more kings. No more cages.”
The storm outside had passed.
But inside the HQ, another one was just beginning.
Tom sat in the debriefing room, mask discarded on the table, the katana across his knees. His chest rose and fell slowly, as though he were meditating—but his knuckles were white from gripping the blade’s hilt.
Layla stood near the monitors, silent.
Manners slammed a tablet on the desk, making both of them jump slightly.
> MANNERS: “You let him play you.”
Tom didn’t even look at him.
> TOM: “He deserved worse.”
> MANNERS: “That’s not the point!”
> TOM (cold): “Then what is the point, Manners?”
> MANNERS: “The point is that you lost control. He showed you Tammy—some deepfake AI broadcast, not even real—and you marched right into his trap. You gave him what he wanted.”
Tom slowly turned toward him.
> TOM: “Which was?”
> MANNERS: “A martyr’s death. On your blade. And now, the whole city’s torn in two—people either fear you or they want to be you. Vance made you the villain, and you just handed him the proof.”
> TOM (flat): “He doesn’t have Tammy?”
> MANNERS: “No. It was a fake. Composite footage. You know how deep their tech goes—damn near indistinguishable from real. Tammy’s probably still with the League… and now they know you’re unstable.”
Tom’s jaw flexed. The silence that followed felt like thunder.
> TOM: “So what, I should’ve done nothing? Let him humiliate her?”
> MANNERS: “You should’ve seen the trap! But you were too busy letting your feelings drive you.”
> TOM (quietly, cutting): “I still see clearer than you ever have.”
> MANNERS: “Really?”
Manners stepped forward, eyes fiery.
> MANNERS: “Because I see a man who’s falling apart. Who’s losing himself. You say you’re fighting for justice—but you don’t even know what that means anymore.”
> TOM: “Maybe I do.”
He stood, blade still in hand.
> TOM: “Hope doesn’t always wear white and gold. Sometimes it’s wrapped in shadows. Sometimes it bleeds. And maybe... maybe that’s the only way it works now.”
> MANNERS: “That’s not hope. That’s fear.”
> TOM (fierce): “Exactly.”
He stared Manners down.
> TOM: “Fear stops people. Makes them think twice. It keeps predators awake at night. If they fear me… maybe that’s the only way to keep people safe.”
Layla turned, finally breaking the silence.
> LAYLA (softly): “Tom…”
But he wasn’t finished.
> TOM: “I’m not a hero. I’m not your savior. I’m what’s left. I’m the remnant of what this world broke.”
> MANNERS: “Then I can’t fight beside you anymore.
The words hit like a knife.
Layla gasped.
> LAYLA: “Manners—wait—”
> MANNERS (without looking at her): “If all that’s left of Tom Cole is a shadow and a sword, then I want no part of this crusade.”
He turned and walked out.
Tom didn’t stop him.
Layla stood frozen, caught between two flames, her heart cracking.
> LAYLA (quietly, to herself): “What are we becoming…”
Tom lowered himself back into his chair, the weight of everything settling in
Tom sat alone in the dark.
The city burned in headlines.
His name whispered like a warning.
He wasn’t hope.
Not anymore.
He was the Remnant.
And he was still watching.
To be continued...
“I wasn’t reborn. I was left behind. What survives isn’t whole — it’s the Remnant.”
“Layla saw hope in me. Manners saw a line I crossed. But Tammy? She saw exactly what I am. And didn’t flinch.”
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